| |
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
WASHINGTON: Denis McDonough, an aide to US President Barack Obama, hinted Wednesday that those close to Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi had contacted the US administration to explore ways out of the conflict.
In a similar vein, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that Gaddafi insiders may be actively seeking exit options while Defence Secretary Robert Gates raised the possibility of defections from Gaddafi's inner circle.
A senior US official told AFP that Libya's foreign minister Mussa Kussa and Abdullah al-Senussi, Gaddafi's brother-in-law and head of military intelligence, have recently called high-ranking US diplomat Jeffrey Feltman.
However, the official, speaking to AFP on the condition of anonymity, linked the calls within the last few days to efforts to win the release of four journalists, which eventually took place, rather than to other issues.
McDonough told MSNBC television that the air strikes launched Saturday by US, French and British forces were having an impact on Gaddafi's regime even though they are designed to protect Libyans from attack by his forces.
"It wouldn't surprise me... given intense pressure that he (Gaddafi) and his inner circle are under as a result of the remarkable work of our troops, there are some of them reaching out looking for opportunities to get out in the middle of that," said McDonough, the deputy national security adviser.
"But I'm not going to get into details of that," McDonough said when asked whether Gaddafi aides were seeking ways out of the conflict.
In an interview with ABC television on Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Gaddafi aides had been reaching out to their contacts in North America and elsewhere "saying what do we do? How do we get out of this?"
The chief US diplomat added: "I'm not aware that he (Gaddafi) personally has reached out, but I do know that people allegedly on his behalf have been reaching out."
Clinton conceded that some of the outreach may amount to "game playing," or to a symptom of Gaddafi's "unpredictable" behaviour.
"But some of it, we think, is exploring. You know, 'what are my options, where could I go, what could I do.' And we would encourage that," she said.
During a visit to Cairo, Gates said it was possible that more figures in Gaddafi's regime could turn against him or even members of his own family.
Possible scenarios included "further defections within his own ruling circle" or "divisions within his family."
The US official said Senussi had telephoned Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, to discuss the fate of four New York Times journalists who had disappeared while reporting on the armed conflict in Libya.
The official told AFP that a Senussi aide then called Feltman back later to say the authorities had "found" them and would release them. The four eventually crossed into Tunisia from Libya on Monday.
The official said Feltman has also talked to Mussa Kussa, but did not make clear whether their most recent conversation also had to do with the release of the journalists.
The two top Libyans have called Feltman "periodically throughout this crisis," though not in the last couple of days, the official added.
-AFP/ac
|
